Advice sick axolotl

[Cxrpze]

So this is my axolotl Lucifer, I’ve had him for 6 years and everything has been good up until a couple weeks ago. He stopped eating and started looking like he was about to pass away. He was in a 60 gallon tank, I swapped him to a 20 gallon tank to isolate him. I was told to put him in a different tank and observe him. I got my water levels tested and was told that it should be good and safe for him. The pet store didn’t say what each level was, I was only told that they were safe levels for my axolotl.

While he’s been in the 20 gallon for about 2 weeks now. I’ve been feeding him blood worms. That’s the only thing I can get him to eat right now, refuses to eat earth worms, pellets or feeder fish. Even with the blood worms he tries not to eat.

I’ll do my best to explain, but his whole demeanor has changed. I hate to say it but it’s like a “dead man walking”. The way he moves around his tank isn’t as smooth, it’s more of a dragging or crawling sensation. A couple days ago he flipped on his side and wouldn’t move. I was sure he was gone, checked him out and flipped him back over and he was acting as if he has lost sense of direction.

He has white spots all over him, so I was told to go buy this white spot ich aid and add it into his tank. It hasn’t seem to have done anything to help him. I’ve recently noticed some small black stuff on his mouth. In the previous tank it was set up with live plants. I had added some moss and I can’t recall at this time what the other plants were called. They’ve been in there with him for 2 years with no problems. About 4 weeks ago, I was cleaning his tank, saw that snails had started to appear (which is when his attitude started acting different). His tank gets cleaned at least once a week for just tidying up, then every other week for a water change (about 25%.

He is my first and only axolotl I’ve owned. I was gifted him as a baby with no knowledge, and have been doing what I can since. I can say however as of right now he isn’t okay, and I’m trying to get him back to being healthy.

 

[wolfen]

unless he was with other axolotls then isolating him into a smaller tank is a waste of time as he was already isolated.
unfortunately you have also moved him from a cycled tank into an uncycled tank.
you need to get a freshwater test kit so you can keep an eye on the water parameters and also run a full test on the 60 gallon to find out if something has happened to the water.
is the 20 gallon filtered (if so is it from the 60 gallon), what dechlorinator are you using? if you are only doing a weekly spritz then a 25% fortnightly do you have any tank cleaners in the tank ie.. fish, shrimp, obviously you now have snails? what substrate if any is in the 60 gallon? also if possible test kh gh.
your axolotl is stressed as is noted by the tail, the skin spots look like a reaction to the water, he is looking a bit thin but no obvious blistering.
unless you put new plants in or introduced the snails yourself you have probably had snails for a while but a sudden increase in waste could cause an increase in snail population, the waste increase could be anything from fecal matter to dead plants.
at the moment try using holtfreters and see whether his skin settles down and he becomes less stressed, info here Axolotls - Requirements & Water Conditions in Captivity be aware holtfreters contains salt which whilst good for axolotls most plants don't tolerate it.
make sure the water is kept cold, if he will only eat bloodworm give him bloodworm with other food mixed in ie.. brine shrimp etc..